ceramic monkeys dressed in human clothes

i used to have a fairly large collection antique tapestries. i started that collection back in 1988, finding a rug every few years of that particular style. but they were a bit bulky, and once ebay came around, they were too easy to come by, so i lost interest. i've now sold most of those.

now i've started a new collection. the collection is of ceramic monkeys that are dressed like humans and doing some kind of human behavior. i hope that this collection is specific enough that the pieces will be harder to come by. i like it that way for two reasons. one, i really don't want to acquire too many so that i don't have to have too much space to display them and/or store them, like i needed with the rugs. and second, just makes it more fun to have a very specific and unique collection.

so far i have all of two items in my collection.

1) this one i got at an antique store in san francisco. its a monkey smoking pipe with a serious face. the person at the store said that it was meant to poke fun at the idea of evolution.

2) this one i got at an antique store in kansas city. i think its even funnier because its so ridiculous. it is a monkey dressed like mozart (i'd say its mozart) riding on the back of another monkey and playing a miniature piano. i call it monkey mozart.